Life-History and Ecological Correlates of Egg and Clutch Mass Variation in Sympatric Bird Species at High Altitude.

ABSTRACT: The variation in egg and clutch mass in sympatric species at high altitudes is poorly understood, and the potential causes of variation are rarely investigated. This study aimed to describe the interspecific variation in avian egg and clutch mass among 22 sympatric bird species at an altitude of 3430 m. Our objective was to reduce potential confounding effects of biotic/abiotic factors and investigated hypotheses concerning allometry, clutch size, parental care, nest predation, and lifespan as possible correlates and explanations for the observed variation. Our findings indicated that both egg and clutch mass evolve with body mass across species. We found that egg mass variation was not explained by clutch size when controlling for allometric effects, which contrasts the "egg mass vs. clut

SUBMITTER: Liu Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10604263 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature